Right now is a tough time to be a Syracuse football fan.
The Orange is 2-2 and currently riding a two-game losing streak heading into the game against Louisville.
This is by far the toughest stretch of the season for Syracuse. The Orange lost to No. 8 Notre Dame on Saturday at MetLife Stadium – a game that was in prime time. Now, Syracuse faces a 4-1 Louisville squad in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
Of course taking it just one step at a time, this team has much to show against the Cardinals. The biggest point is to get a win. SU started 2-0 with wins against Villanova and Central Michigan and has lost two straight.
Here are some major observations from the last week that could put SU in some danger against Louisville.
1.) Lack of a running game
Terrel Hunt cannot only pass the ball. Believe it or not, this is not a problem of the offensive line. The biggest issue is Syracuse does not have a running back who is truly ready to be the top man at the collegiate level. Prince-Tyson Gulley is only an OK back at this point. Right now, Hunt is essentially the quarterback as well as the running back. He even leads SU in rushing yards. Trying to do two jobs at once nearly cost him against Notre Dame when he was bothered by a hip injury. He is going to play against Louisville, but it goes to show that doing too much can cause some black and blue marks.
2.) Terrel Hunt’s inability to pass
He can physically throw the ball, but where does it end up? It usually ends up on the turf. The red zone is a huge issue for Hunt right now. He cannot seem to find the comfort zone to make accurate and complete passes in the most important part of the field. It’s interceptions galore for Hunt when the SU offense is close to the goal line. This is one of the important reasons for having a good, strong running back who can push for yardage and inch closer to the goal line. Louisville scores more than 30 points per game on average. Wake Forest quarterback John Wolford threw three interceptions last weekend against the Cardinals, so if the quarterback is going to make mistakes, the Louisville defense will capitalize. Syracuse already saw this against Maryland when, not necessarily did the Terrapins win the game, but more so the Orange lost. Accurate and complete passes in the red zone is the key to the Syracuse offense.
Sloppy play has hurt the Orange badly this year and in a tough stretch against a strong team like the Cardinals, now is the time to clean things up. This is another game on the national stage where the world will be watching and Syracuse does not want to be embarrassed again like it was against Notre Dame.
Posted:  Austin Pollack
10 responses to “Orange Offense Must Improve against Louisville”
Rooting for SU of course , but SU needs an offensive coordinator , and a change at QB …. like NOW !
Great ‘D’ !!! They had to cover the special teams disaster on opening kickoff . At least the ‘D’ keeps improving , but can’t say that for the rest of team . Oh wait …. the kicking is good this year too !
Oh my gourd ! They get to the 1 yard line , to merely blow it badly . Can’t find that end zone !!!
This offense is really Offensive!!!‚Ķ. There are no play makers on the roster. Hunt looks bad‚Ķbut who is helping him? When we have the ball, it doesn’t even feel like we could score‚Ķ..not even close. Guys dropping passes‚Ķ‚Ķ..ridiculous!!!!!!!!!
Hunt is looking very “elite “.
The offense is an embarrassment! I wish these games weren’t nationally televised.
Dr Bill… how’s 4 and 8 looking now?
Cuse 17,
This was a winnable game‚Ķ..I don’t care what anyone says. Any team with any kind of offense beats the Cardinals. We get 3 turnovers‚Ķand no offensive touchdowns for the second game in a row. 4-8!! this team could end up 2 and 10! It is up to them‚Ķthey can go in the tank‚Ķor they can pull together and fight hard each game. I saw no fight in this team. Games are not won on paper ‚Ķbut on the field. Talent trumps all‚Ķbut a lot of heart goes a long way. This team appease to lack Both Talent‚Ķ.and sadly‚Ķ..Heart as well‚Ķ..
It all starts with a QB. We need to get one and build an offense around him. I was very optimistic about the freshman QB from Florida, who went back to Florida and is not on campus. Our staff doesn’t seem to be the kind of group that would start a true freshman‚Ķeven if he had talent. We seem to reward seniority. I have seen enough of Hunt. Replace him with who?..I would not waist a redshirt year and play our true freshman Qb‚Ķ.he is undersized and needs the year to gain strength. Wilson and the other redshirt freshman QB, it doesn’t appear that either of them is the big time QB we need to turn this thing around. So, moving forward, with the future in mind,it might be time to bench Hunt and develop the two redshirt freshman QB’s.The downside to this strategy is the message it might send to the team‚Ķbut this team may already be in the tank!!!
on the QB issue…
that’s what Ron said weeks ago.. he even called.. “after the 4th game”…
I supported him and we’re negative haters!
Well Ron,maybe next time they’ll pay attention.
The QB talent is real weak… the problem starts with MCD. he can’t coach and while the offense is weak.. he calls a terrible game.
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